


Jack Kelly (no. 1)

by FanfictionShadow



Series: Newsies Headcanons [1]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Street Fights, Jack Kelly's thoughts, Jack isn't fully mentally healthy, Just who he is, Nothing's explicit though, Oh almost forgot, Santa Fe, WARNINGS:, and tell me what you think, but i'm putting a trigger warning anyway, everyone's biased, exploration of character, headcanons, i don't know if they count, i want you all to be mentally healthy, idk how to tag this, it's just hinted towards, not edited so sorry, not sure if i need that tag or not, please read this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 23:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18271649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanfictionShadow/pseuds/FanfictionShadow
Summary: I have many Newsies headcanons.This includes many Jack Kelly headcanons, some of them contradictory.Here's the first one I typed up.





	1. Pre-canon

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is how I imagine the newsies seeing Jack, with some other headcanons thrown in the background if you want to keep track. This chapter is mostly pre-canon, so I guess it could still technically be canon? Except for the fact that none of this is mentioned in the show and only some of it is backed up...
> 
> Also, any potential trigger warnings are in the tags, but it's all really mild because I never went into detail with anything, so you should be fine. If you're worried, though, I want you to be comfortable and healthy, so please don't read if you're worried of being triggered.

Jack Kelly was Manhattan's first good leader in years. No one actually remembered the leader before him - Jack was the only one left who was there for long enough to remember - but hushed stories were passed around at night as the littles curled up under blankets given to them by Jack, or as an older kid sat on a bed that Jack fronted them the money for, while he was out of range on the roof, braving the weather so others had a place to sleep. No one actually told these stories to the new kids while Jack was around, since he would always change the subject, not enjoying being the center of scrutiny, but by the end of a new kid's first day in the Lodging House they'd have heard at least one or two.  
  
The first story told was just fact: if you didn't sell enough that day, or if you didn't have enough to buy your papes tomorrow, Jack would front you money. Every newsie knew that selling fifty papes set you up nicely, if you were able to do so, but Jack regularly bought and sold a hundred papes and still always slept on the roof. There were whispers of a hiding place where he kept all his earnings, saving up for a train ticket out of New York, but if a fellow newsie needed help - Jack wouldn't hesitate.  
  
Specs, Race, and Crutchie, the three that had been there almost as long as Jack (but of course, they don't remember before Jack, either because they were too young or because they blocked it out) would lead hushed conversations about how Jack had protected each newsie who came in, how he named them and gave them a safe place, since any kid who chose the street or the Lodging House over a home was obviously trying to escape from something. When the Delanceys or Weasel tried to pick on the new kids, giving them a few less papes or a hard time, Jack would step in and fend them off. If a newsie got in trouble with a gang or had a run-in with the Bulls, Jack would get them out of it, distracting or even fighting the others so his newsie could escape. He checked in with the new kids and the littles regularly, making sure they had food, good selling places, and clothes.  
  
Of course, there are a few more newsies who remember the Fights - the series of fights that Jack got in when the newsie turf wars started, when he fought each leader to keep Manhattan safe and out of another's control. Some of the boroughs just needed a meeting, where they talked out terms. Some required proof of strength, which Jack, having grown up on the streets, proved easily. But the hardest was Brooklyn and its brand-new king, Spot Conlon, who started the turf wars after finding a Queens kid selling on his turf.  
  
No one from Manhattan - or from anywhere except Brooklyn, though they weren't too friendly - actually saw it, but rumors spread that Jack challenged Spot to a mental challenge. Winner named terms. Jack's terms were that Brooklyn and Manhattan stayed out of each other's way, the Bridge was neutral ground, so was Sheepshead, and no more turf wars if the rules weren't broken. No one knew Brooklyn's terms, since Brooklyn lost. Spot was so angry he punched Jack, leading to an all-out battle - which, it was whispered late at night when Brooklyn wasn't nearby, Jack won, becoming the only person to defeat the King of Brooklyn. This story was told only when every person nearby had triple-checked that the red of Brooklyn's newsies wasn't anywhere in eyesight. (Some newsies even questioned - far away from the Bridge, in silent voices - if Spot was scared of Jack - but never dwelled on that thought for more than a second.)  
  
And of course, most of the newsies remembered at least one time that Jack disappeared for days, or weeks, or once or twice months, and came back closed-off, flinching at sudden movement, and ducking into alleys anytime he saw a Bull. Jack had been in and out of the Refuge so many times that no one remembered the exact number, much less the first time he was there (though they were all pretty sure it was before any of them came along). All they knew was that Snyder hated Jack - and that, if Jack was back, he escaped, since the Spider would never let him go otherwise. Whenever he came back, silent and withdrawn, the older newsies would steer the younger ones away from him, and either Race or Crutchie would stick by his side until he came out of his head and back to reality.  
  
No stories were told about what went on in the Refuge, or of Jack's escape beyond the time he hid in the governor's carriage (that had been a quick visit, so he hadn't been in as bad a place, and could talk more freely when he got back), or of why Jack needed one person around him whenever he did return. That topic was forbidden beyond whispers in the dark, one that only Race and Crutchie, and maybe Specs, truly understood.  
  
But Jack, the leader of Manhattan, a fearless teenager who was too mature for his age yet just as much a child as the youngest kid there, had stories following him wherever he went. Stories of how he once sold a hundred and fifty papes with a boring headline, or how he fought off three drunk adults at once by shoving them into each other - and then the quiet stories, of how he spent half his salary getting medicine for the sick newsies in the winter, or how he once stole three loaves of bread at once for the kids in the Refuge after he escaped from there yet again. There were stories of the Cowboy, the fearless, cocky leader of the Manhattan Newsboys, and then there were stories of Jack Kelly, the boy too old for his age who took care of anyone who needed it and protected his own, no matter the consequences. And that was why he was Manhattan's first good leader in years - he cared about each and every newsie, not just the money they made, and in return they cared for and followed him.  
  
And that's what none of the other boroughs - not even Brooklyn - had: a leader because of care and respect, instead of a leader because of power and fear. That's why Manhattan followed Jack anywhere, including into a strike against Pulitzer and the World on July 21st, 1899 - because Jack looked after all of them, so they looked after him too.


	2. Canon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack has his own opinions. They may not be the same as the newsies'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is Jack's view of himself. He sees himself very differently, and many of his thoughts are conflicting because I see Jack as a very conflicting character, a mix of confidence (You're gonna want to take a picture of this!) and denouncing himself (I'm a blowhard, Davey's the brains), a mix of selflessness (There is no way I'm putting those kids back in danger) and selfishness (But Captain Jack just wants to close his eyes and go!). Jack is such a complex character, if you look at all the little details in the background and lost in the action, and while I can't touch on all parts I do try to bring most of them out and show the conflict he has within himself as well as with the world around him.
> 
> This is all my own headcanons of him, and you are free to interpret his character in your own way. I hope you do, because that gives us more as fansies to discuss.
> 
> Again, same trigger warnings as last time, same mild level, and if you aren't comfortable reading this then please don't read. Your mental health is more important than this fic.

Now, Jack sees himself a bit differently. He's not the smartest - growing up on the streets, longer than even he can remember, means he's never been to school - but he can reason pretty well. And, he reasons, if a kid's facing an injustice then others who can help should help. That's how he became the Manhattan leader - the old leader was awful, and so many newsies suffered under him, and Jack had the ability to stand against him, so he did.  
  
But, see, Jack's really all about self-preservation. He stood up, not for the other kids, but because he was losing money and food and shelter because of the previous leader too. He's the leader now because it gives him power, gives him freedom, and helping out the kids he leads once in a while ensures they won't rise against him like he did the previous leader. And sure, he cares about a lot of them, probably most of them, but if he got the chance he wouldn't hesitate to get out of New York and leave them all behind. Sure, he'd make sure the transition was peaceful, or at least as peaceful as a gang of kids could make it, but he wouldn't stick around any longer than necessary.  
  
Jack ignores the money that he's made from selling a hundred papes a day, ignores the fact that he's had enough to travel to Santa Fe three times over for years. Every time he reaches into his savings and takes out another quarter to spot a kid's papes for the day, he ignores the dollars shoved into the corner, waiting for their chance to purchase a ticket West. After all, Jack's the leader of Manhattan, and even if he really doesn't want to he has to watch out for his newsies, has to stay there until a new leader comes up. Sure, Race is his second in command, but he's not a permanent solution - he's there to take over if Jack lands back in the Refuge, to keep everyone focused and distracted until Jack comes back, but he can't smoothly run the Lodging House by himself. Maybe in another year, Jack will think, contemplating at night on his rooftop. Maybe in a year Race will be ready to lead, and then Jack can finally get out of there. But until then, Jack can't leave, and he ignores the money that says he can.  
  
Then July, 1899... Well, Jack is seventeen. He has a year left, tops, before he's thrown to the streets for good, no grownup helping him because he is a grownup now, he's no longer a little kid who gets sympathy buys. That's why he grabs the new kid when he first sees him, slamming down the extra quarter he usually saves for the littles or if the headline's extra good and firmly getting the new kid in his debt. After all, the two new boys have some life at home, looking at their clean clothes and bruiseless bodies; they don't need Jack's help to survive. But he might need them, or at least the young kid; he knows that this past year has been his worst selling year yet since he looks older and older every day, and by next year, he needs the money for a train ticket or he'll be stuck in these filthy streets forever.  
  
And then, when the price is raised, all Jack can think isn't that he can leave right then, that he can grab his hidden box full of money and buy a ticket to Santa Fe. All he thinks about is Crutchie, starving because he can't steal food with a crutch, and Race, who'll be stuck trying to keep hundreds of kids alive through the cold, bitter winters with too little food and no medicine or blankets, and even Les, a little kid used to warmth and a family, not to hunger and fearing for his next meal. He thinks of how the free space in the Refuge would shrink until Snyder was forcing them five to a bed and still a good half of them would be forced to the floor, of how Snyder would never run out of boys to take his anger out on and insults to throw at them. Jack, for once, doesn't think of himself, of how he could leave and go far away - he thinks of the kids he'd leave behind and decides to stay for them, to fight for them.  
  
Then he watched Crutchie get beaten in front of him by his worst nightmare, he knew where Crutchie was being dragged to, and instead of stopping it he ran. Jack ran, ran to his penthouse and to his dreams of Santa Fe, because he's always known he's selfish, but now he knows he's a coward, too, and he just can't stay around and see these kids' disappointment. He'll do one more job for Medda, one last crumb for the people still trapped in these stinking streets, and then he's gone. He's done leading kids into beatings and the Refuge. He's done trying so hard, lying and stealing and running, for so little. The newsies can go back to work if he's gone, they'll be safer without him leading them into fights that aren't theirs.  
  
(And maybe he doesn't leave right away, doesn't accept Medda's money right away, because deep down he wants a reason to stay. Jack wants a reason why he can stay in New York, in the stinking streets with the newsies he's been leading for years, instead of every reason pushing him to Santa Fe. Because yes, he's selfish, but even in his mind Santa Fe was a dream, just something to grasp to when times are hard, and was never truly his reality. And when Medda shoves the money into his hands, when Medda gives him her blessing to leave, he knows that there's no reason for him to stay anymore, no incentive to not be selfish.)  
  
The article in the Sun changes his mind, makes him think they're winning, and in his almost euphoria that what they're doing is worth it, that he's not destroying these kids' lives for nothing, he does probably the stupidest thing he's ever done in his life - he listens to Davey's stories of the trolley strike and the bargaining with their bosses, thinking that their strike was the same.  
  
He walks right into Pulitzer's hands.  
  
Jack's not letting anyone else go to the Refuge, not when he knows just what lengths Snyder will go to in his revenge against the only kid who dared to push back. Jack knows that he'll be a traitor for this, he'll be lucky to last the night, but when Pulitzer sends Snyder and the Bulls to make sure either he speaks out or the others get put away... what other choice did he have? Jack won't let the others suffer any more for his mistakes. And the money shoved at him, in front of the very kids he convinced to not sell them out, just makes him feel sick. But anything to keep them safe - and if it gets him out of there, away from the trail of betrayed and bleeding kids he's leaving behind, then all the better.  
  
Jack rails against Katherine when he finds her on his penthouse, the one place that was always his and no one else's. He yells at her for looking at his childhood, comprised of all the nightmares he's been through, and when she accuses him of selling the newsies out he snaps. She doesn't understand what some of these boys have been through, she doesn't even understand just how truly poor these boys are - just like Davey and Les, she's from another, cleaner world, one where in the end the good guy always wins. None of them understand how selfish Jack truly is, how much his dreams control him, and how necessary it is for surviving on the streets, because they see him as the good guy in their storybook worlds, fighting against tyranny. They can't understand how Jack selling out the boys who adore him is the opposite of that, too, how taking the money and leaving is the least selfish thing he can do for them at this point. Davey, Les, and Katherine are from another world, and can't understand the paradoxes that exist in Jack's.  
  
But there's one last chance, one where it doesn't end in violence, and Jack takes it because in the end, he's selfish. He doesn't want to be burdened by the feeling that he could have done more when he finally gets to Santa Fe. He doesn't want his name to be whispered in hatred when he's no longer there to hear it. And when it's done and over with, when they beat Pulitzer and show the world that kids are able to stand up and fight, he decides he's finally able to leave. Race can ride the adrenaline to become the new leader, Davey can help him keep the newsies in line for the transition, and there's nothing holding him back anymore. He can leave the money in the hidden box behind for the kids who get sick; he can take the money Medda gave him and buy a train ticket that leaves that night. Jack is free, now, free to be as selfish as he knows he is.  
  
But he's not free. All around him are the Manhattan newsies, members of the Newsboys Union that he formed, still just kids who believe in Jack, trust him, need him. Yes, they can survive without him now, they probably could all along. But, Jack thinks, looking around, maybe it's time to stop running. To stop running after dreams that will never be as bright in reality, to stop running from Snyder and the Refuge and the nightmares of his past.  
  
Because Jack knows he's selfish, he always has. But the strike... it may have shown him that he can be a leader, too.


End file.
